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Senator Rob Bradley

Audubon Names Senator Rob Bradley as Champion of the Everglades

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Bradley Celebrated for Passing Landmark Everglades Bill

State Senator Rob Bradley was presented with Audubon’s Champion of the Everglades Award at the Audubon Assembly in St. Augustine on October 25 for his leadership in Everglades conservation. Senator Bradley addressed Florida’s largest conservation gathering and spoke to the ecological importance of the Everglades.
“I am extremely honored to be recognized by Audubon Florida,” said Senator Bradley. “The ecological importance of the Florida Everglades reaches far beyond our state. I’m proud to have sponsored the legislation that will reduce harmful discharges from Lake Okeechobee and will allow for a large volume of water to be cleaned, stored and moved south into the Everglades and Florida Bay.”
Audubon is Florida’s oldest and largest conservation organization and presents the Champion of the Everglades Award each year to a person who has gone above and beyond to protect Florida’s water and wildlife in the River of Grass. Previous award recipients include Nathaniel Reed, Senator Bob Graham, and Governor Jeb Bush. Senator Bradley was the sponsor of Senate Bill 10 (2017)- considered the most important Everglades legislation in a decade.
“Senator Bradley’s leadership on behalf of the Everglades proves his dedication to protecting Florida’s land and water resources,” said Julie Hill-Gabriel, Audubon Florida’s deputy director. “He secured support in the Florida Legislature for the biggest legislative victory for Florida’s environment in 2017. We applaud Senator Bradley and are glad to name him as this year’s Champion of the Everglades.”

Senator Bradley Files Legislation to Increase Funding for Florida Forever

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Senator Rob Bradley (R-Fleming Island) filed legislation to increase state funding for the Florida Forever land acquisition fund. Senate Bill 370 requires the state to spend a minimum of $100 million annually from Amendment One funds on the Florida Forever program.
The bill appropriates funds from Amendment One, a constitutional amendment passed overwhelmingly by Floridians in 2014. “As a conservative, I believe in absolute fidelity to the Constitution,” said Senator Bradley. “I am filing this bill because the Constitution demands, and the overwhelming majority of Floridians who voted for Amendment One in 2014 demand, that we protect the natural resources of our state.”
Florida Forever is Florida’s premier conservation and recreation lands acquisition program. Since its inception in 2001, the state has purchased more than 718,126 acres of land with a little over $2.9 billion. Land purchased through Florida Forever is held in trust for the citizens of Florida, and is used for parks, trails, wildlife management areas, flood control and more.
“Floridians are blessed with some of the most unique ecosystems in the world, from springs to the Everglades to coral reefs to world class beaches and rivers,” said Senator Bradley. “As our population continues to explode, we have an obligation to preserve these unique ecosystems for our children and grandchildren. The Florida Forever program helps us fulfill this obligation.”
Senator Bradley currently serves as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism and Economic Development and chairman of the Senate Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation. He was elected to the Senate in 2012 and represents Senate District 5, which includes 11 counties in north Florida.

Senator Bradley to file legislation to expand compassionate use of medical marijuana

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Senator Rob Bradley (R-Fleming Island) today stated his intention to file legislation to implement Article X, section 29 of the Florida Constitution, which allows the use of marijuana by patients with debilitating medical conditions. The Senate will consider the bill during this week’s Special Session.
“Our constitutional duty is to ensure the availability and safe use of medical marijuana in the manner prescribed by Florida voters,” said Senator Bradley. “This patient-first legislation will expand access to this medicine, while ensuring safety through a unified regulatory structure for each component of the process from cultivation to consumption. The bill will be consistent with the Senate goal of increasing the overall number of MMTCs that provide medicine to patients. Additionally, this bill will enhance research opportunities that will allow scientists and physicians to study and improve this medicine, while gaining a better understanding of its effects.”
“This legislation demonstrates fidelity to the Constitution by implementing the amendment passed by the voters last November,” said Senate President Joe Negron (R-Stuart). “The bill will also further the work the Legislature has done over the past few years to pass legislation authorizing the medical use of marijuana and other developing medications for our fellow citizens who are suffering from serious medical conditions and illnesses.”
Legislation will be formally filed later this morning.

Senator Bradley Introduces Legislation to Stabilize Workers' Compensation Rates

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Senator Rob Bradley (R-Fleming Island) today filed Senate Bill 1582, Workers’ Compensation Insurance. The legislation addresses a number of recent legal challenges and outlines reforms needed to bring stability to the workers’ compensation rates paid by Florida businesses.
“While I believe comprehensive legislation to overhaul the entire workers’ compensation system and reduce rates is our ultimate goal, the current cycle of enacting laws that impact businesses only to have those changes overturned by the courts creates instability for businesses that must be avoided,” said Senator Bradley. “My goal in filing this bill is to concentrate efforts on stabilizing rates and introducing more competition between insurers. The bill also incorporates recent court decisions to avoid costly and protracted litigation.”
The legislation filed today requires insurance carriers to authorize or decline requests for authorization from health care providers within three business days. The request is deemed authorized if the insurance carrier fails to respond. The bill also requires a claimant to state with specificity the amount of each requested benefit at issue in a petition, and requires judges of compensation claims to dismiss petitions that do not contain such specificity.
The bill amends statutes relating to temporary total disability benefits and temporary partial disability benefits from 104 weeks to 260 weeks, consistent with the Florida Supreme Court decision in Westphal v. City of St. Petersburg. In keeping with the Florida Supreme Court decision in Miles v. City of Clearwater, the bill deletes the prohibition against attorneys and others to receive a fee or other consideration unless approved by a Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC).
“Making meaningful comprehensive changes that can withstand judicial scrutiny should be the goal,” continued Senator Bradley. “This legislation incorporates significant provisions that will stabilize rates and bring Florida in line with 38 other states that encourage more competition among insurers and limit the amount of the insurer’s defense fees that can be passed on to businesses, while not subjecting businesses to a tug-of-war between the Legislature and the Judiciary.”
The legislation converts Florida to a loss cost state, similar to 38 other states that allow a rating or advisory organization to file the rates that are projected to cover losses. Under this system, insurers are required to file separately the remaining components of the rates needed to cover expenses and profit, known as loss costs multipliers, encouraging competition among insurers for the remaining components.
Attorney fees continue to be a major driver for rate increases and an effort to rein in those fees by the Legislature was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court in a 5-2 ruling last year. Therefore, the legislation retains the statutory fee schedule for setting claimant attorney’s fees but directs the JCC to consider factors in each case and allows the JCC to decrease or increase the attorney fee subject to a maximum hourly rate of $250. The legislation also provides that an insurer’s defense and cost containment expenses are excessive if they exceed 15 percent of the insurer’s incurred losses for the average of the three most recent calendar years. Each insurer must return amounts over 15 percent DCCE to employers via either a cash refund or credit toward the future purchase of insurance.

Senator Bradley Introduces Legislation to Increase Transparency in Education Funding

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Senator Rob Bradley unveiled legislation today to increase transparency in education spending by creating an easy-to-navigate tool that shows parents how much state, local and federal funding is provided for their child’s education.
“Florida invests nearly a third of the state’s total budget in education. Florida parents and taxpayers deserve access to easy-to-understand information about the average amount of funding dedicated to educating our students,” said Senator Bradley.
Senate Bill 1414 directs the Florida Department of Financial Services to create a parent-friendly online tool where users can view information about the average amount of local, state and federal financial resources generated to educate Florida’s students.
The tool would provide a per-student funding estimate based on responses to certain questions, including school district, grade level, whether the child qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, whether the child is identified as a student with disabilities, gifted, or an English language learner.
“This legislation brings Florida’s legacy of transparency and public accountability to our state’s school funding program,” continued Senator Bradley. “As a parent and a taxpayer, I believe we should ensure that all parents are able to access this important information.”
Florida invested a record $22.1 billion in education spending last fiscal year, including a record $7,178 per student. The 2017 Legislative Session convenes on March 7th in Tallahassee.

Senator Bradley files plan to protect coastal counties from polluted discharges

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Legislation Would Reduce Harmful Discharges from
Lake Okeechobee, Increase Southern Water Storage

Senator Rob Bradley (R-Fleming Island), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Environment and Natural Resources, today filed Senate Bill 10, Water Resources. The legislation authorizes bonding a portion of proceeds from the Land Acquisition Trust Fund, set aside by the voter-approved Water and Land Conservation Amendment (Amendment 1, 2014), to purchase land and construct a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee to reduce harmful discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries.
“Despite the sincere efforts of our state and federal government to plan and fund long-term solutions to address rising water levels and pollution in Lake Okeechobee, year after year as the Lake levels rise, the solution is to flood my community and many others across our state with billions of gallons of polluted water that destroys our estuaries and harms our local economies,” said Senate President Joe Negron (R-Stuart).
Record rainfall this past year resulted in unseasonably high water levels in Lake Okeechobee, which threatened the integrity of the Herbert Hoover Dike. To maintain safe water levels, the Army Corps of Engineers authorized the release of billions of gallons of water from the Lake to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Rivers. Such freshwater discharges cause significant environmental damage by lowering the salinity levels of the estuaries and introducing pollutants into coastal waters. Due to the discharges this summer, massive amounts of toxic algae that originated in Lake Okeechobee were sent to the estuaries and coastal waterways.
“These algal blooms have occurred before and will occur again unless high volume discharges from Lake Okeechobee are stopped and pollution in the Lake Okeechobee basin is abated,” said Senator Bradley. “Algal blooms are not simply an unsightly nuisance for residents and tourists, they bring real health risks to humans and wildlife and result in severe economic damage to local businesses.”
As a result of the high volume discharges, coastal communities experienced enormous harmful algal blooms with devastating impacts not only to the ecology of local waterways, but also to residents, fishermen, and local businesses.
The extent and severity of the blooms resulted in Governor Scott declaring a state of emergency in four Florida counties.
“For nearly two decades, there has been scientific consensus and recognition by state leaders that additional water storage south of Lake Okeechobee is necessary to stop this ongoing problem; from Governor Jeb Bush’s historic support of the bipartisan Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan in 2000; to the recent University of Florida Water Institute study commissioned by the Senate and completed in 2015,” continued President Negron. “This legislation provides a clear plan to address this plague on our communities in a manner that respects the interests of the agricultural community and private land owners.”
“The projects planned and underway are absolutely necessary and must be continued. Unfortunately, current projects fail to include one significant component that the majority of scientists and experts uniformly agree on – a long-term solution requires additional land and storage south of Lake Okeechobee,” continued Senator Bradley. “This legislation implements the constitution by using Amendment 1 funds, funds Florida voters dedicated to improving our environment, to address a critical and ongoing problem that impacts our residents, visitors, business, economy and quality of life.”
Senate Bill 10 authorizes the issuance of bonds to raise over a billion dollars to acquire 60,000 acres of land and build a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee to reduce harmful discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries. The reservoir is expected to hold 120 billion gallons of water, approximately as much water as was discharged from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie Estuary between January and May of 2016.  The creation of significant storage capacity south of the Lake will help manage Lake levels in anticipation of periods of high rainfall like this year’s predicted El Nino weather pattern.  Storing water during the wet season provides the additional benefit of allowing water to be sent south to hydrate the Everglades and Florida Bay, or for agricultural use, during the dry season.
The estimated cost of a reservoir on 60,000 acres of land providing 120 billion gallons of storage in the area south of Lake Okeechobee is roughly $2.4 billion. With the federal government paying at least half of the cost of such a reservoir, the state’s commitment would be $1.2 billion. The bill authorizes the use of approximately $100 million of documentary stamp tax revenue set aside by the Water and Land Conversation Amendment (Amendment 1, 2014) annually over the next 20 years to finance land acquisition and construction of the reservoir.
The bill directs the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) to begin the formal process of purchasing land from willing sellers. The project is subject to Congressional approval to secure the 50/50 cost sharing agreement authorized for other Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan projects.
If the SFWMD is unable to identify sellers of land appropriate for a reservoir through an open solicitation by the end of CY 2017, the legislation authorizes the Board of Trustees to exercise the option with U.S. Sugar entered into in 2010 to buy 153,000 acres of land in the Everglades Agricultural Area, for the purpose of securing the 60,000 acres necessary for the reservoir and to begin the planning the construction of the reservoir.
“My goal in filing this legislation is to explore all available options for the voluntary purchase of land to deliver this much needed and long anticipated storage south of Lake Okeechobee” said Senator Bradley.  “I am willing to explore all ideas for adding this important component of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan now.  Nearly half way through the original timeline of CERP, less than 20 percent of the estimated total cost has been funded. It is time to invest in additional projects needed to complete the plan and that is exactly what the voters have been trying to tell us in passing Amendment 1.”
If the state is ultimately unable to purchase land for the reservoir by November 30, 2018, the legislation increases the ongoing Legacy Florida appropriation by an additional $50 million for the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, which includes a reservoir in the Everglades Agricultural Area as a key component. This is in addition to Legacy Florida’s existing commitment of $200 million. Legacy Florida also requires preference among these projects to be given to projects that reduce the harmful discharges from Lake Okeechobee to the St. Lucie or Caloosahatchee Estuaries.

Senator Bradley Files Amendment Two Implementation Bill

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Senator Rob Bradley (R-Fleming Island) filed legislation today implementing Amendment Two, the constitutional amendment which expands the medical marijuana system in Florida.
“In 2014, the Florida Legislature legalized low-THC medical marijuana, and in 2016 expanded the medical marijuana system to provide legal access to marijuana for terminally ill Floridians,” said Bradley. “Floridians want even more options, speaking loud and clear at the polls in November by passing Amendment Two. This bill significantly expands the current medical marijuana system to give Floridians the relief they have demanded, and it does so safely and quickly.”
Senator Bradley worked closely with Senator Dana Young (R-Tampa) in crafting the bill. Senator Young chairs the Senate’s Health Policy Committee and is co-introducer of Senate Bill 406. “This bill faithfully honors our solemn obligation to the people of Florida to implement Amendment Two,” Young said. “Suffering Floridians will have now real options with no unreasonable delays.” The Health Policy Committee heard testimony from numerous Floridians at a recent committee meeting in Tallahassee.
As more Floridians utilize medical marijuana, the bill provides for the expansion of the numbers of licenses available to those entities that will grow and sell medical marijuana. This provision insures that Floridians have several price and quality options in the medical marijuana marketplace.
Senate Bill 406 will be considered during the Regular Session of the Florida Legislature which will convene on March 7, 2017.

St. Johns River and the Keystone Heights Region

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Senator Rob Bradley (R-Fleming Island) filed legislation today to protect the St. Johns River and the lakes of the Keystone Heights region for future generations. Senate Bill 234 requires the state to spend a minimum of $35 million annually from Amendment One funds on projects that preserve or provide public access to the River and the Keystone lakes.
“I grew up on the banks of the St. Johns River and visited the lakes of Keystone Heights as a child, and my family enjoys these incredible gifts from God today,” said Senator Bradley. “This is very personal for me. These natural resources define the character of the northeast Florida region of our state.”
In 2014, Floridians overwhelmingly adopted Amendment One, a constitutional amendment mandating that the Legislature spend one-third of documentary stamp tax revenues on environmental preservation efforts. The bill directs a portion of those dollars to the River and Lake Region.
“As a conservative, I believe in absolute fidelity to the State Constitution,” Bradley continued. “The Constitution requires us to protect these natural resources, as we should, and this bill helps fulfill that constitutional obligation to the people of the northeast Florida.”
Senate President Joe Negron recently appointed Senator Bradley as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Environment and Natural Resources. “President Negron and I share a passion for implementing real solutions to the environmental challenges facing our state in the 21st century, from Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades to our springs to the St. Johns River. Not only do we need to insure that our water is clean, but we need to insure the public has reasonable access to these wonderful natural assets for all time.”